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The Lion of Al-Lat statue was one of several ancient monuments damaged by Islamic State at Palmyra, the ancient city in central Syria which the jihadists have twice seized from government control during the six-year-long war.

The Lion of Al-Lat statue was one of several ancient monuments damaged by Islamic State at Palmyra, the ancient city in central Syria which the jihadists have twice seized from government control during the six-year-long war.

On its left paw, written in the Palmyrean dialect, is an inscription: “May Al-Lat bless whoever does not shed blood in this sanctuary.”

Ironically, the lion was a symbol of protection associated with Al-Lat, a pre-Islamic female deity.

The Lion of al-Lat, a 2,000-year-old statue of a lion holding a gazelle in its mouth, had been felled by an Islamic State demolition team.